The Caldas Telehealth program of the University of Caldas in Colombia has promoted the application of technology in medical care since its creation 21 years ago.
Created in 2001, as an initiative of the University of Caldas, Telesalud Caldas has brought health services closer to the most remote areas of Colombia thanks to joint strategies with the national and departmental government. After 21 years, Telesalud Caldas has managed to establish links with international organizations and governments of other countries.
Before its tenth anniversary, Telesalud Caldas launched a virtual education platform, thanks to which they managed to train thousands of health professionals throughout Colombia. This was part of the strategy for Integrated Care for Prevalent Childhood Illnesses (IMCI), which is still in force to date and has trained more than 110,000 professionals.
In 2018 and 2019 they received recognition from the TICAL international event, first for their Impact of Virtual Education project in Colombia and the second year for the Artificial Intelligence project in virtual education.
By 2020, after the health emergency caused by COVID-19, Telesalud Caldas implemented Coronavirus Telehealth, a comprehensive strategy on COVID-19, with forums, virtual courses, teleconsultations, medical chat, telemeditation, psychology, among others.
In addition, Telesalud Caldas offered free telemedicine care to people in Colombia, Latin America and Europe, serving more than 2,300,000 patients.
On the other hand, in 2021, through their Telemedicine Route strategy, they managed to bring medical care to underserved populations in isolated regions of Colombia. This strategy was presented with Spanish, French and Portuguese authorities. Finally, the telemedicine route model will be replicated in a French town.
In 2022, in one of their most recent actions, they presented "Apadrinamentes", a strategy that offers free services in mental health care to vulnerable populations in Colombia.
